James F. Gennaro
Jim Gennaro | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the New York City Council from the 24th district | |
| Assumed office February 18, 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Rory Lancman |
| In office January 1, 2002 – December 31, 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Morton Povman |
| Succeeded by | Rory Lancman |
| Personal details | |
| Born | May 3, 1957 |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Wendy Phaff |
| Education | State University of New York, Stony Brook (BA, MPA) |
| Website | Official website |
James F. Gennaro (born May 3, 1957) is an American politician serving as a Democratic member of the New York City Council, representing the 24th district since 2021. He previously represented the same seat from 2002 until 2013, and was the chair of the Council's Environmental Protection Committee. He was first elected to the Council in 2001. In November 2005, he was re-elected to the seat, based in central Queens.[1]
In the 2008 New York state elections, Gennaro was the Democratic candidate for the New York State Senate; his opponent was the Republican incumbent, Frank Padavan.[2] After 3 months of recounting ballots, the incumbent, Senator Padavan, was declared the winner and Gennaro conceded defeat.[3]
In November 2009, Gennaro was re-elected for a third term on the City Council.[1] Due to term limits, Gennaro did not run again in 2013; his seat was won by Democrat Rory Lancman. Gennaro left office on December 31, 2013.
Formerly the senior policy adviser to then Council Speaker Peter Vallone, Sr., Gennaro was an adjunct professor of political science and environmental public policy at Queens College.[1] He also served as President of the Jamaica Estates Association and as a member of Queens Community Board 8.[1]
Gennaro lost his first wife Joanne to multiple system atrophy in 2016.[4] He married his second wife, Wendy B. Phaff in 2020, and they live in Jamaica Estates, Queens.[1]
In 2020, he declared his intention to run for his former Council seat.[5] On February 2, 2021, Gennaro declared his victory in the nonpartisan special election for this seat, after the city's Board of Election released its in-person voting results for that day.[6][7] The election was the first in New York City to use ranked choice voting. Gennaro was sworn into office on February 18, 2021, 16 days after the special election date.
Gennaro introduced an amendment to code of the city of New York, that became law that restricted the compensation awarded by the environmental control board for citizen noise complaints. Protection would be capped at $5, and compensation for proceedings brought by a complainant would be capped at $10, thus discouraging noise complaints. [8]
Electoral history
[edit]2025
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | James F. Gennaro (incumbent) | 30,221 | 98.4 | |
| Write-in | 498 | 1.6 | ||
| Total votes | 30,719 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
2023
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | James F. Gennaro (incumbent) | 7,383 | 74.3 | |
| Republican | Jonathan D. Rinaldi[a] | 2,045 | 20.6 | |
| Conservative | Jonathan D. Rinaldi[b] | 277 | 2.8 | |
| Total | Jonathan D. Rinaldi | 2,322 | 23.4 | |
| Write-in | 226 | 2.3 | ||
| Total votes | 9,931 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
2021
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Queens Strong | James F. Gennaro | 4,078 | 60.1 | |
| Mo for the People | Moumita Ahmed | 1,041 | 15.3 | |
| Soma for Queens | Soma S. Syed | 537 | 7.9 | |
| A Better Queens | Deepti Sharma | 322 | 4.7 | |
| Your Voice Matters | Dilip Nath | 283 | 4.2 | |
| Community First | Neeta Jain | 227 | 3.3 | |
| Unity | Mujib U. Rahman | 192 | 2.8 | |
| United Citizens | Michael Earl Brown | 96 | 1.4 | |
| Write-in | 7 | 0.1 | ||
| Total votes | 6,783 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | James F. Gennaro (incumbent) | 8,062 | 60.1 | |
| Democratic | Moumita Ahmed | 3,020 | 22.5 | |
| Democratic | Saifur R. Khan | 1,147 | 8.6 | |
| Democratic | Mohammed Uddin | 1,123 | 8.4 | |
| Write-in | 56 | 0.4 | ||
| Total votes | 13,408 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | James F. Gennaro (incumbent) | 12,740 | 72.8 | |
| Republican | Timothy Rosen | 3,870 | 22.1 | |
| Conservative | Mujib U. Rahman | 821 | 4.7 | |
| Write-in | 70 | 0.4 | ||
| Total votes | 17,501 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
2009
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | James F. Gennaro | 13,855 | 94.3 | |
| Working Families | James F. Gennaro | 832 | 5.7 | |
| Total | James F. Gennaro (incumbent) | 14,687 | 100.0 | |
| Write-in | 4 | 0.0 | ||
| Total votes | 14,691 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
2008
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Frank Padavan | 39,101 | 43.4 | |
| Independence | Frank Padavan | 3,320 | 3.7 | |
| Conservative | Frank Padavan | 2,873 | 3.2 | |
| Total | Frank Padavan (incumbent) | 45,294 | 50.3 | |
| Democratic | James F. Gennaro | 43,330 | 48.1 | |
| Working Families | James F. Gennaro | 1,481 | 1.6 | |
| Total | James F. Gennaro | 44,811 | 49.7 | |
| Write-in | 8 | 0.0 | ||
| Total votes | 90,113 | 100.0 | ||
| Republican hold | ||||
2005
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | James F. Gennaro | 15,513 | 74.9 | |
| Working Families | James F. Gennaro | 798 | 3.9 | |
| Total | James F. Gennaro (incumbent) | 16,311 | 78.7 | |
| Republican | Stephen Lynch | 2,836 | 13.7 | |
| Independence | Renee Lobo | 1,570 | 7.6 | |
| Total votes | 20,717 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
2003
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | James F. Gennaro (incumbent) | 5,184 | 69.6 | |
| Democratic | David Reich | 1,380 | 18.5 | |
| Democratic | Florence Fisher | 879 | 11.8 | |
| Write-in | 1 | 0.0 | ||
| Total votes | 7,444 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | James F. Gennaro | 8,517 | 86.3 | |
| Working Families | James F. Gennaro | 824 | 8.4 | |
| Total | James F. Gennaro (incumbent) | 9,341 | 94.7 | |
| Conservative | Walter A. Lamp | 522 | 5.3 | |
| Write-in | 2 | 0.0 | ||
| Total votes | 9,865 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
2001
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | James F. Gennaro | 5,080 | 40.7 | |
| Democratic | Barry S. Grodenchik | 4,487 | 35.9 | |
| Democratic | David Reich | 2,905 | 23.3 | |
| Write-in | 10 | 0.1 | ||
| Total votes | 12,482 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | James F. Gennaro | 15,675 | 88.0 | |
| Working Families | Barry S. Grodenchik | 1,785 | 10.0 | |
| Green | Lori M. Zett | 348 | 2.0 | |
| Write-in | 4 | 0.0 | ||
| Total votes | 17,812 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 "James F. Gennaro". New York City Council. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
- ↑ Katz, Celeste (August 22, 2008). "Senate Candidate Gennaro Pledges More for NYC". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on July 23, 2012. Retrieved September 25, 2008.
- ↑ Toscano, John (February 11, 2009). "3 Months After Election Day, Gennaro Concedes To Padavan Queens Gazette". Qgazette.com. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
- ↑ Toure, Madina (March 24, 2016). "Community remembers late wife of former Fresh Meadows councilman". QNS.com. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
- ↑ Coltin, Jeff (September 24, 2020). "Lancman set to resign from City Council, sources say". City & State New York. Archived from the original on September 28, 2020.
- ↑ Kaye, Jacob; Mohamed, Carlotta; Sosin, Clarissa (February 3, 2021). "James Gennaro takes early lead in City Council District 24 special election". qns.com. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
- ↑ Saphirstein, Shabsie (February 3, 2021). "Gennaro Win Is A Win Against Anti-Semitism". queensjewishlink.com. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
- ↑ "File # Int 1194-2023". The New York City Council. September 28, 2023.
- ↑ "00401100024Queens Member of the City Council 24th Council District Recap.pdf" (PDF). Vote NYC. New York City Board of Elections. December 2, 2025. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
- ↑ "00401600024Queens Member of the City Council 24th Council District Recap.pdf" (PDF). Vote NYC. New York City Board of Elections. December 5, 2023. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
- ↑ "00400500024Queens Member of the City Council 24th Council District Recap.pdf" (PDF). Vote NYC. New York City Board of Elections. February 18, 2021. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
- ↑ "DEM Council Member 24th Council District". Vote NYC. New York City Board of Elections. July 20, 2021. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
- ↑ "00400700024Queens Member of the City Council 24th Council District Recap.pdf" (PDF). Vote NYC. New York City Board of Elections. November 30, 2021. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
- ↑ "7.19Queens24CouncilRecap.pdf" (PDF). Vote NYC. New York City Board of Elections. November 19, 2009. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
- ↑ "4.32QueensSenate11 Recap.pdf" (PDF). Vote NYC. New York City Board of Elections. February 9, 2009. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
- ↑ "Queens City Council District 24 Re-Cap.pdf" (PDF). Vote NYC. New York City Board of Elections. November 28, 2005. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
- ↑ "2003primaryrecapsall.pdf" (PDF). Vote NYC. New York City Board of Elections. 2003. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
- ↑ "Microsoft Word - MnFront.doc" (PDF). Vote NYC. New York City Board of Elections. December 5, 2003. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
- ↑ "F0202 2001 PRIMARY ELECTION October 11, 2001" (PDF). Vote NYC. New York City Board of Elections. October 11, 2001. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
- ↑ "2001 GENERAL ELECTION November 28, 2001" (PDF). Vote NYC. New York City Board of Elections. November 28, 2001. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
